OT

Yeah !! Gives you a kinda fuzzy feeling before doomsday , plus what better way to spend rainy days than to fondle your stock of stuff and do un-necessary repairs .
Cost is always there , then it was money , now it is time .... I have to beg ,borrow and lie to get a day's leave to do anything interesting now . How to explain to office that you just want to go out for a long ride or wander in the city flea markets hunting for interesting stuff ?? So much frustrated that I am contemplating an early retirement . Enjoy your time .

Will it be possible to get an original bore-piston kit from the hey days of Splendor, from anywhere? When exactly were these localized? Perhaps we can scour the dealerships in the hinterland?

You can open the oil seal by prying it by inserting a screwdriver in between the oil seal and drum plate. But for this you require a oil seal as this one will get damaged on removing. Do not remove it and instead fit it as the spring is not required. Get a oil seal and next time when you open it then change it.
@gansan- no you will not get the old bore kit and the old bore kit came from usha. Instead go for usha. Splendor bore kit sells more than some companies total bike sell. So there is 0% chance of getting it. However use usha bore kit and they are made in honda foundry, Japan.

Thanks Sibun for quick attention - What does this oil seal do here ? How much does it cost ? Should buy from HH distributor or independent make ? Any chance of water entry for this defect(roads here are like this now) .

Is that cement road ?

How did the spring come out ?
Were you trying to pry the oil seal with a screw driver ?

Tata Indica also comes with USHA piston,rings and valves and it lasts more than 2,50,000 km easily and you know how the cabbies abuse it.

Although it doesn't seem like it , it's an average condition asphalt(bitumen) surfaced road . This one is one of the better because it hasn't been dug up by one of our services yet, as is usual before monsoon . They routinely dig all roads during monsoon as the ground is soft and easy to dig then .

That spring band came out all by itself while I was removing hard caked grease and dirt from the speedo pinion with kerosene and toothbrush, quite gently too . No I swear I didn't touch that seal , until after it came out . Afterwards I tried to pry it with screwdriver , but it has soft rubber on top and a hard plastic-like base , so you'd have to break it to remove . Gave up and put the bike back together this evening, with new type brake-shoes in (both) .

Car engine bores etc last that long usually , because the whole thing being water-cooled experience less temperature variations from area to area and less overall thermal stress . Moreover it's pistons and valves etc have cool clean unspoiled lube to work with all the time as the engine oil is just tasked with lubrication, not cooling and circulates in the engine only , not through tranny . Plus the volume of oil in there is very large compared to puny motorcycle sumps .

@pinaki- Go for original oil seal. The part number is:-
91251-GK4-000- OIL SEAL 47 MM X 60 MM X 7 MM.

Car engine lasts way longer than motorcycle engines because:-
1. It has separate engine oil which is only used to lubricate the engine so is not damaged easily. Secondly the engine oil has molybdenum additive to reduce friction as a result it provides slippery surface as the clutch is dry.
2. Car engines are water cooled so they have temperature maintained at 80-90 degrees while in a motorcycle it shoots up to 150 degrees in summer.
3. Car engine rev less. Usually 90% of their life they runs at 1500-2500 rpm. While in a motorcycle the engine most of the time runs at 4000-6000 rpm.
4. The car engines do not run as tight clearance as motorcycles.
There are many other factors which determine the life of the car engines but rest assured even some of the trucks also use USHA parts.

Ownership experience of my joy part-I

OK finally i am able to pen my ownership experience but i will do this in parts and be sure to check it every day.
This is perhaps the longest ownership experience in terms of kilometers in XBHP.
Actually this will be more of a love story rather than ownership experience.
This affair started in May 2001 when we sold our Bajaj classic scooter which was thoroughly abused by my cousin brothers and villagers. The scooter had only run for 40k but was completely destroyed as my father was posted at a place near our village and anybody who wants vehicle used to take the scooter as my father didn't refused anybody. So you can understand the condition when it is the property of whole village.
After selling the scooter we started the search for bike.
Those were the days when quality took precedence over VFM. Now-a-days in the name of value for money quality has gone down the drains.Those were the days when Hero was with honda,kawasaki was with bajaj, Suzuki was with tvs,escorts was with yamaha, piaggio was with lml, e.t.c.
Since at that time i was studying in class -7, i had a very less saying and my father was buying it for his own use.
At that time we were staying at my local town that is JAJPUR ROAD. My father was posted at a place near to our village. The distance was about 60 km from our place and communication was really bad. So father needed to buy a bike for commuting in weekends as father used to stay there.
Our tenant uncle, had a bottle green color samurai, which he maintained in showroom condition and i always had a crush on it. The most important thing was samurai had the brightest light(even by todays standard) and the two stroke pull always attracted me. So i wanted to buy a samurai. Also if four stroke then the original cbz in blue color. But since father wanted a bike, he wanted a CD 100 SS, which i didn't like as the bike was quite thin. Bajaj was not preferred because of the problems we faced with our scooter.
Came the day of buying the bike. It was Sunday(08/07/2001) and father had returned home on Saturday. I didn't had a hint that we were going to buy the bike. After breakfast my father went with his friend to hero honda showroom and told me to come with my cousin on cycle(he was same age as me and at that time there was no mobile).
BUYING EXPERIENCE:-
The showroom was a small room of 15*20 feet and the workshop was behind. The showroom knew me very well and as my friends and i were a rowdy group and always returned from school in gang on cycles and as the town was small we were well known by every body. Even more people knew me than my father.The showroom name was SOUMIK AUTOMOBILES.
The owner of showroom was surprised to see me and ask if my father had came to buy a bike. At that time two new bikes were launched by hero honda 1).passion(the long sticker model and the black with gold sticker looked good) 2). Joy. The bike had came from Kharagpur and was unloaded last night only. I went to workshop was all the way thinking we were going for CD 100 SS. While we went to workshop I saw a CD 100 SS was being fitted with accessories. I went to it and was looking it with a sad face(as i wanted a samurai or CBZ classic in blue color).Then the head mechanic who knew me very well came and said that it is not the bike and the joy was our bike. I looked at it and saw the round headlight. It was first bike in India that came with both MFR in headlamp and tail light.
But i was happy on seeing the size of bike. It was bigger than splendor and CD. Also the finish was top notch. When the bike was started, the sound and smoothness bowled me over. Previously the samurai which i rode with my uncle has a loud sound and also vibrated and also our scooter was no exception. This was the first time that i sat on a hero honda(y2k are smoother than previous model). My fathers friend brought it and gave me to ride from our field (where we played in evening) to our home. I was only 12 years old then and whatever i rode was 2 strokes. But gathering guts i shifted into first gear and slowly left the clutch(i was passionate about bikes from child so i got to learn from my uncles a little bit from my uncles), the bike pulled cleanly. But the problem was as soon as i left the accelerator the wheel locked immediately and on giving accelerator again pulled furiously(i was not aware of 4 stroke engine braking). Any how i took the bike home.
Ride experience:-
As my father didn't know to ride bikes(he had only rode scooters) so he left the bike and went to office the next day. The next day i tried to start the bike, but the kick was very hard(Those days the engine came with very high compression which i do not find on new bikes, even when i rebuild my engine the compression is more than new bikes). After trying for half an hour i left it. Later i learned the trick to pull the clutch and move the kick to silencer level and then kick. Then my father took leave on Thursday and we both went to ride the bike. My father was quite amazed by the smoothness and the ease to ride it compared to his scooter. But i was disappointed because if a small stone is present under the rear tyre while starting the bike then the bike will not pull.Both my father and i thought it is because of low power but little did we know that engine needs to free up before it will show its power. Then my maternal uncle and i went to temple(which is 60 km from our home) to do puja. At that time the running in was specified:-
1st gear- 15 km/hr
2nd gear- 25 km/hr
3rd gear- 40 km/hr
4th gear- 60 km/hr
for the first one thousand km.
While returning from puja the bike didn't cross 60 km/hr no matter how much we tried(present day bike can touch top speed straight out of showroom but the joy automatically increased the top speed after 1000 km and till date i cannot understand whether it was done by company or what).
Then nothing eventful happened.
1st servicing:-
My father took me to first servicing and since all knew me, the head mechanic was assigned to service the bike. Here i would like to mention that although it was a small town and the showroom was small still the servicing was best till now,from what i have seen.
The mechanic changed the engine oil(at that time hero honda supplied 20w 40 oil in blue bottles), adjusted the valve clearance, cleaned the drive chain and lubricated it, cleaned the air filter and checked all the nut bolts.
We paid the mechanic Rs.50 as a tip(Rs.50 in 2001 was not the daily salary of most mechanics) and we left the showroom. The bike felt much smoother after service and my father and i immediately went on a trip of 100 km s without any information at our home.
The bike is so smooth that it tells you to ride and not stop.
Rest all service was done on time and the service was excellent. No service center that i have visited has service like that service center.
Since my father was posted near my native place, my cousin brothers(paternal uncles son), whenever use to come to village would take the bike for 7-8 days and ride it in village. Our village roads are such that it will put most off-road to shame.
Not only my cousin brothers but the whole village will take the bike and 90% of them do not know to ride the bike and will man handle it.
In 2002 one of the cousin brothers caused an accident in which the whole front end was damaged.In those times the SHOCK pipes used to cost Rs.1200 compared to Rs. 600 now.I was very upset on seeing the condition of bike. Here everybody note that although i was only 14 years then i was slowly turning into a biker. I was upset when the bike was damaged. I would eagerly wait for Sundays when i can ride the bike in our colony.Also i was quite angry with my father for lending the bike to idiot villagers and cousin brothers.At that i didn't know what the attraction was towards joy, but after joining XBHP i came to know that this madness is known as biker.
YEAR 2001-2004
This was the most sad and torture moment of the bike. As i have mentioned cousin brothers and villager used to ride the bike and my father is such that he cannot refuse any body. I was literally in tears when i used to see the bike being abused. The bike was ridden more by my cousin brothers than my father. Every kind of abuse was meted out to it.
1. engine oil and service was not done for 10k kms most of the time.
2. The bike was ridden with 3-4 person on board in village roads.
3. Outside petrol with mixture of water,kerosene and what not was used in bike.
4. Most of the goods were carried on the bike on those roads.
5. On those muddy roads bike was not washed for months and will be used in mud and dirt for months.
So you can tell that the bike was abused like hell. I am sure no other bike would have lasted in those torture.
YEAR 2003
It was the month of march, this year that the bike was abused like never before. It was the wedding of my cousin sister. So my cousin brothers took the bike for two months. At those time father would use public transport to come home which took three hours for a distance of 60 kms. You can feel the situation when the owner is coming by hopeless public transport and my cousin brothers are abusing the bike.
When we went to village we went by rickshaw while our bike was used to carry all and sundry except our family. This infuriated my mother and me and my father got the dose of his lifetime from my mother.
The bike was not taken care of and any body rode it whenever they wanted.
The bike was also used to carry grocery for marriage and was overloaded to hilt. It was at this time that my cousin brother became my worst enemy and remains to be so till date. Till date i do not like them or like to see them.
Year 2004
It was in may 2004 when father got transfered and the bike was left in JAJPUR road where we lived. Father was thinking to sell the bike but my mother and i refused to part with the bike. Since father was transferred to outside of state, the bike remained and i rode it for doing common household works.
In MAY 17 my matric results were out and we left our own house for bhubaneswar to continue my higher studies. It was at this time that i rode the bike for first time on a long journey of 120 km on highway and i was only 16 years old. But my mother had more confidence in me than i had on me.
Here i would like to state that riding without license is not advised but at that time my mother was alone and father was out of state and my sister is younger so ultimately all the responsibility was on me. So i rode the bike, and i would also like to add that i wore helmet even though there was no rule.I think this habit was transferred from my father as he also always wore a helmet while riding.Here i find that even in 2012 when helmet is compulsory in bhubaneswar many do not wear helmet as they think it is a burden.So what will there child learn from father or mother.
Due to shifting of place in these two months the bike ran a lot. By this time the speedo was at 40k and this was second speedo as my cousin brother(paternal) had already broken one speedo before.
The bike was returning 60 kpl and was struggling to pull beyond 60. Also the rear tyre was damaged.
First i changed the tyre. At that time CEAT secura sport was newly launched and my bike came with 2.75*18 tyre. It looked puny in joy and thus i changed to 3.00*18 CEAT SECURA SPORT(At that time the tyre cost was Rs.580 and now the same is Rs.1500-talk about inflation. The tyre at that time was of much better quality than it is now.).
Then i took to SVC to rectify the bike. The SVC told to leave the bike for 2 days and cost will be approx- Rs. 2000.
I felt they are cheating me. So i left the SVC and promised never to return to them. Then i got the news of a mechanic who hail from same town as mine(jajpur road) and his work shop was at sainik school, bhubaneswar.
I went to meet him and he told me that only head decarbonisation and valve polishing was required. I was a noob like some of them here when it came to bike( i was only 16 years old) and i felt he was correct.
So i gave him the bike and i sat near him to see the work. I am curious from child so i began to ask a lot of question regarding various parts of bike. He patiently explained various parts and function of bikes. This was the start of a long term relationship with the mechanic.(any xbhp member in bhubaneswar or cuttack who is pissed with the service is free to contact me to meet my mechanic and i give assurance that your all problem with bike will be solved).
He de-carbonized the head and also changed the handle cone-set. At that time the head gasket was costing Rs.300 and the racer set was Rs. 320.
The bike became very smooth and once again felt like new bike. At that time my bike was at 40k mark.
This was the start of my relationship with my mechanic. The bike felt so good that i was on seventh heaven. My family went mad as they thought i was mad after the bike.
I got admission into stewart school, bhubaneswar for 12th standard. Although i had the bike at home for me but i always used cycle to go school and tuitions.
The bike was used for home work or whenever i used to go to my native place.The bike used to return about 75-80 kpl and petrol used to cost Rs.33.33. So a Rs.100 fill used to last for up and down journey to my native and still petrol will be left.
My cousin brothers used to stay at bhubaneswar but i never let them touch the bike. You know from my previous experience that i hate them. The first time i went to my native i was quite thrilled. The distance was 120 km one way. For this we have to travel for 100 km on NH-5. You can say it was the start of touring on bike. The bike felt exceedingly well and i was like on heaven after the trip.
Your first touring on bike you can never forget. The love for the bike gradually increased. In the year 2004 not much running was done as i used my cycle a lot. My cycle was also maintained like none. The cycle was like new cycle and i also loved it.
YEAR 2005:-
This year started with a trip to my maternal uncle's village. Usual maintenance like oil change, chain tightening, washing,e.t.c was done by same mechanic.
Then i took a trip to my native and i decided to check the top speed of my bike. I hit 110 kph without any stress from engine and i was shocked. I completed the one way journey in 1 hour 30 minutes. You do the calculation. A distance of 120 km in 1.5 hours. The average speed was 80 kph that too on a 100 cc bike. The kerb weight of 118 kg helped as it was rock solid on highway unlike other 100 cc bike which starts to feel unstable at 80-90 kph.
My love for bike increased ten fold.
In year 2006 i passed 12th and my bike has touched 70k.
Year 2006:-
This year in MAY i passed 12th class and bike touched 70k.The works carried out were change of clutch plates,head cleaning and valve polishing, sprocket and chain kit change. The bike got new life and once again felt butter smooth. Since i was going to do engineering i felt the need of bike more. I got admitted to engineering and my college was 15 kms from home.

^^^^

Nice....bring it on....sibun

To Pinaki jee,

How many KM done by your splender till date ?

--------------

I'm stuck between Chain-set and Clear lens indicator assembly.

People (all possible spare parts shop in my area 10-12km radius,some of them are there before I start learn bike/cycle ) make fun of me when I said I'm looking for Rolon chain set.

My mech's helper boy suggest me to go for Pulsar Indicator assembly which is flexible & can be bent any direction and it is accident proof. Now is it going to fit the ancient passion is a big (?).

Hero chain set cost @ Bansal 569/-, at my place 560/-.

I will update it in a phase wise manner as it will contain lots of experience.
Go for ROLON/DIAMOND and if possible take the help of pinakiji. It is not so difficult to find ROLON/DIAMOND. Put the passion pro indicator. Do not go for pulsar as it will require modification and also try to maintain the stock look of the bike as far as possible.

My dad bought a cd 100 deluxe back in 1993. Its just a year younger dan me! But maintainence is awesome. Not even once the engine was dismantled. Apart from the tyre everything in the bike is original. Back then oly honda was printed on the engine case. L8r on it was changed to hero honda. Even now the bike is so damn smooth and i've been able to reach 85 max. Light weight and the main advantage is dat its an al metal body which makes it durable. I've been so inspired by the bike and the company that i decided to buy a hero bike and ended up buyin a zmr. Cd100 even now gives awesome mileage but have not been able to calculate how much. Hats off to hero honda for makin gems lik this and splendor! The father of quality! Wen someone argues wit me da quality of hero bikes i always saw dis- once upon a time bajaj launched boxer, and tvs launched fiero. Same time hero honda launched splendor and cd100 before that. Even now they are lik kings and boxer and fiero vanished from earth! Dats da result of a quality machine!

Why did you change both at the same time ?
Just a word of caution-Your new brake shoes will not provide necessary braking power in emergency situation.
(I know you don't cross 70kmph on splendor)

When I changed my brake shoes to ANL,the braking distance had almost doubled. But after 10-15 kms it can be compared to disc brakes.

OT
They use stronger components than petrol engines because of high compression ratio and have massive turbo boost.
They have excellent oil pressure and pistons are cooled by a continuous jet of oil even at low RPM.
Large radiator to cool the engine.
Max RPM of just 4500 compared to 10,000rpm in bikes.
Use of plain bearings and absence of ball bearings.
Perfect engine balance and minimal vibrations due to four cylinders

That's all I could think.

@Sibun
If you have already typed your ownership experience in MS word,you can attach it here.

Good info , will buy asap .

My Splendor+ is done 10320kms yet and is going to be exactly 2 years on 1st of July .
I have not seen the Rolon set recently at shops , but it was very much available a few years back , have not checked after that . But Diamond chain set is widely available in Calcutta . This shop in South Calcutta has it (he sold one in front of me this Sunday), just call them to confirm if correct size for your bike is in stock or how soon he can get it for you . Chain-sprocket set being a vital drive-train part takes precedence over transparent turn-indicators , for now .
Oriental Auto Spares - 255, N S C Bose Road , Kolkata 700047 (Phone Guddu'Jee - 9836530716) .

From your first caution I'm riding it carefully below 30kmph only , and trying out the brakes often on empty stretches (after checking the rvm) . Had no choice ,availability of the mechanic and spare time is not ensured next weekend, and it's downright dangerous to ride with iffy brakes here during monsoon, you've seen the roads . I sanded both the new shoes and the drum , and cleaned the drum with carb-cleaner too before fitting . Took out the pivots+arms completely , cleaned , very sparingly greased . Brake plate also cleaned , and washed . All wheel bearings + sprocket-carrier bearing cleaned out and regreased with castrol-longlife (high temp brake grease is available here? ) . Speedo pinion, front brake cable and rear brake lever rod etc etc cleaned and greased . Brake is stopping ok now , almost same as with OE shoes . Drum and wheel axles getting warm on riding . It takes some time for bearings and axles etc to set too after a fresh refitting . Bike is dragging a bit like low tyre pressure , hopefully it'll go away with more riding .

Here are some pics ...

The front brake assembly .



OE shoes were badly glazed,pitted and as hard as stone . No wonder they were not holding . Notice that they were dark grey in colour (non-asbestos type containing carbon instead) . Made by SAL .



New sets of ASK brand shoes . Notice the light brown colour for asbestos type .



I usually check and service bearings axles etc etc stuff in there thats not attended to during regular service, whenever a tyre change or brake service presents an opportunity .
Sprocket bearing cleaned up . It is both side open type(so gets dry and dirty easily) a larger size than the wheel bearings , dunno the number .



6301 wheel bearings , both side sealed type .. seals removed and cleaned in kerosene .



Start to stuff grease into bearings from one side only and keep stuffing (I poke it in with a thin screwdriver) .



Untill it starts to ooze out on the other side - that means the bearing has been packed thru correctly .



Now finish up both sides smoothly , do not over-grease , this much is enough . Grease heats up during operation and needs space to expand , else it'll pop the seals .



lightly grease the seals and pop them back on securely , press-fit .



Sprocket carrier bearing greased on both sides . Here you can use lots of grease , since it's an open type and dirt/water/brake-dust accumulates in there a lot .



Thats it . Fix everything back .

I also wanted to ask the same question.
I use it to grease the bearings in my indigo and have no problem with it.

Tide Water Oil Co. (India) Ltd. - Products Veedol has high temperature grease and I think sibun has suggested veedol before.(I remember that he recommended engine oil and gear oil )

Thanks Pinaki jee for the info, after lot of googling on Gmaps and Wikimapia I gather;

This shop may located on that road where the metro track belongs after Tallygaunge over the surface of the ground....

the shop located on that road or some interior/by lane...kindly confirm ?

Thanks for the help.